Towel cabinet



cs. A. STEINER ET AL 1,736,140

TOWEL CABINET X Fil d Dec. 10. 1 925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 19, 1929. e. A. STEINER ET AL 1,736,140

TOWEL CABINET Filed Dec. 10, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J72 van for: GEORGEAJTE/NER Jim 1 5 fl/ANJ i 'mlw Patented Nov. 19, 1929 GEORGE A. STEINER AND JAMES EVANS, F SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, A SSIGNOBS E0 STEINEB SALES COIQIIPANY, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, A CORPORATION OF UT TOWEL CABINET Application filed December 10, 1925. Serial No." 74,544.

In the operation of towel cabinets where the clean towelroll is supported in guides or slots in or near the side walls of the cabinet, difliculty has been experienced in trying to prevent oneend or the other of the roll from moving upwardly in the slot or guide and binding or sticking when a person using the towel grasps it by one edge and gives a quick jerk thereon. Theoretically, a person should stand in front of the cabinet, and having released the stop, grasp both edges or the middle of the towel and pull evenly thereon. If this is done, the clean towel will unwind smoothly and the roll on which it is supported will generally not stick in the guides. Unfortunately, however, in schools, factories and public places, the user of the towel does not'grasp it by both edges or by the middle so that the pull will be evenly distributed over the web of the-towel, but instead will release the lock device with one hand,grasp the nearest edge of the towel with the other and jerk it qulckly. The result is the stick or s indle on which the towel is supported in the s ots or guides in the side walls of the cabinet.

willslide upwardly at one end and become wedged and then the towel instead of extend- 'mg straight across the cabinet in position to unwind smoothly and evenly will be tilted to such an angle that it may be dificult or impossible to pull the towel out. In any event, the smooth even operation of the cabinet is seriously interfered with and the feed of the towel might, at times, be entirely checked.

The object, therefore, of our invention is to so mount the clean towel in the cabinet that -'no matter if the pull thereon is exerted on ing ready removal of the soiled roll so that when' one edge, it will unwind smoothly and evenly and without binding.

A further object is to provide a cabinet having a supporting means for both towel rolls which will permit the convenient placof the clean roll in the cabinet and the the laundry man is making his rounds, no time need be wasted in removing the roll of soiled towel from the cabinet and placing the clean roll therein.

Other objects of the inventionwill appear from the following detailed description.

, In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a towel cabinet showing the clean towel roll in osition for use therein;

igure 2 is a similar view illustrating the In the drawing, 2 represents the top of the cabinet, 3 the side walls thereof, 4 the floor or bottom wall and 5 the rear wall, and 6 a door that is adapted to be opened to expose theinterior of the cabinet. Mounted in the cabinet in suitable bearings are feed rolls 7 and 8 preferably of the type havin a sanded peripheral surface that will grip t e surface of the'towel web and feed it when-brought into engagement therewith. These rolls, as shown, are of substantially the same diameter and have a driving means between them,

as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 2, so

that the rolls will operate simultaneously and at substantially the same peripheral sur-.

face speed, the direction of rotation of the rolls being indicated by the arrows in Figure 1. 9 1s a bar'extending transversely of the cabinet and having substantially right-angled end-portions 10 which are pivotally supported by suitable means at 11 on the side walls of the cabinet, preferably near the forward portion thereof. These ends 10 near their pivots are provided with outwardly extending arms 12 which diverge from the end-portions 10 and have longitudinal slots 13 thereinwherein the roll or tube 14 supporting the clean towel roll 15 is mounted.

The bar'9 and its connectionsform in'effect a pivoted swinging yoke adapted to be pulled outwardly through the open door of the cabinet'to allow the convenient insertion of the clean towel roll in the sup orting arms as illustrated in Figure 2, suite le stops 15" being provided in the side walls of the cabinet to engage the. arms 10 and limit the downward swinging movement of the yoke. When the clean towel roll has been properly mounted in the supporting arms, the yoke is tilted on its pivots back to ,the position illustrated b full lines in Figure 1 where it will contact y gravity with the peripheral surfaceof the feed roll 7. This roll, as heretofore described, has a drive connection with the roll 8 and is also provided with a ratchet 16 and dog 17 to prevent backward movement of the rolls. 7

The bar 9 forms a rigid connection between the end-portions 10 and is sufliciently stiff to prevent the'tilting of one end independently of the other end and hence although a user ma grasp one edge of the towel web and pul or jerk thereon, it will not be possible to tilt the roll and cause it to bind and interfere'with the free delivery of the clean towel as frequently is the case where the roll is su ported in guides in the side walls of the ca met. This tilting yoke has therefore two functions in this cabinet. It provides a convenient means for mounting the clean rollin the cabinet for just as soon as the door has been opened the person loading the cabinet can pull the yoke outwardly and easily and quickly mount the clean towel roll therein.

Then, when the yoke is tilted to its upright position the clean roll will be firmly held and cannot be twisted or tilted out of its proper position by any uneven or edgewise pull on the towel web.

In the upper portion of the cabinet, we'

provide a similar supporting means for the soiled towel roll which we will designate by the same reference numerals .with the addition of the exponent a. This upper yoke is adapted to-tilt in substantially the same manner as the lower one, being mounted in a similiar manner and is adapted to swing outwardly through the door opening to allow the convenient removal of the soiled towel roll. It need not, however, have the function of preventing this roll from tilting or twisting as there is no necessity of any means foreholding the soiled towel roll in its proper position, the web always being fed evenly and rolled up by the movement of the upper feed roller. The soiled towel roll will rest by gravity upon the upper feed roll Sand be revolved by contact with this roll during the operation of the cabinet and the soiled towel will be smoothly and evenly wound thereon by the revolution of the roll 8 and the contact of its sanded surface withthe web of the towel.

The roll 7 is provided with a sliding looking bolt 16 adapted to contact with a stop' 17" and aslide 18 is provided in a guide 19 to push the bolt inwardlyso that it will clear 2 the stop 17, the slide being actuated by a plunger device 20 in the door ofthe cabinet. This lock device andrelease is described and position to hold the upper free end of the gate adjacent the rear wall of the cabinet so thatthe soiled web of towel will slide upwardly thereon passing over the upper edge of the gate between it and the rear wall and under a guide-roll 26 and from thence to the soiled towel roll 14 that is supported in the upper yoke as described above. This gate is adapted to tilt forwardly as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 1 so that the web of clean towel can be fed upwardly to the soiled towel roll and then when the roll has been started, the gate is swung back to the position indicated by full lines in Figure 1- and held in this position by the dog 23. A somewhat similar device isillustrated in application,

Serial #570,703, filed June 24, 1922, by George A. Steiner and also in application #155,883, filed March 16, 1925, also by George A. Steiner. I

We claim as our invention:

1. A towel cabinet comprising a casing having an opening and door therefor, feed rolls having roughened surfaces mounted in said cabinet and having a driving connection between them, a yoke having side bars pivotally supported on the walls of saidcasing adjacent one of said feed rolls and adapted to swing outwardly through the opening in said cabinet when said door is open to sep arate a towel roll from a feed roll said yoke having arms projecting outwardly said arms being connected by a bar and a towel roll having hearings on said arms and adapted to receive and support a supply of clean towel, said towel roll being so positioned wlth respect to one of said feed rolls that the clean towel supply will have frictional contact therewith when said yoke is swung to 1ts normal working position within the cabinet;

2. A towel cabinet comprising a casing having an opening and door therefor, a feed roll journaled in said casing and having a roughened surface, a yoke having side bars plvotally supported in the walls of said casing adjacent saidopening and adapted to swing outwardly through said opening when the door is open to separate a towel roll from a feed roll, a towel roll having bearmgs in said yoke and adapted to support a supply of clean towel wound thereon, the convolutions of the towel contacting with the rough surface of saidroll when said yoke is swung into the cabinet, said yoke having a rigid connection between said bars whereby downward pull on one end of said towel roll and 1ts side bar will impart a corresponding insane downward movement to the other end and its bar and prevent cramping of the towel roll in said casing.

3. A towel cabinet comprising a casin having an opening and door therefor, fee rolls having roughened surfaces iournaled in said casing and having a driving connection between them for simultaneous movement, yokes pivotally supported in the side walls of said casing opposite said feed rolls respectively and near said opening and adapted to swing on their pivots outwardly through said opening when said door is open, said yokes havin arms projecting therefrom and towel rol s having hearings in said arms and adapted to support respectively the clean towel suppliv and the soiled portion of the towel, sa1 arms and towel rolls being conveniently accessible when said yok'es :0 are swung outwardly through said opening and the relative positions of the pivots of said yokes and said feed rolls being such that whensaid yokesare swung inwardly the convolutions of the clean and soiled towel will contact and be held by gravity against the respective surfaces of said feed rolls.

4. A towel cabinet comprising a casing having an opening in its wall, a feed roll mounted in said casing, a yoke pivotally supported adjacent said opemng and adapted to swing outwardly therethrou h and having arms thereon provided with earings and a towel roll journaled' in said bearings, sai

roll being-adapted to support a supply of clean towel wound thereon, said towel roll having a sliding movement in its bearings lengthwise of said arms, the relative position of said feed roll and yoke being such that pull of the user on the towel web will tend 40 to draw said towel roll toward the limit. bf its sliding movement in said arms and the convolutions of the towel against the roughened surface of said feed roll. In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hand this fith day of December, 1925.

} EORGE A. STEINER. .JS EVANS. 

